The global financial system rests on self-created quicksand. When banks lend to other banks or financial institutions, those funds are used as a basis for further lending, and each transaction is larger than the one before. Interest has its own interest, and money breeds money. The greater the amounts and quicker the transactions, the more money is created. The amount of money in the system has grown exponentially. Computers decide in milliseconds the buying and selling of millions and billions of dollars worth of financial instruments. With so much money available, and with the ease and speed of global transactions, trade in derivates and other forms of financial gambling has progressively detached the financial system from economic and social reality.

From Gillian Tett to Mervyn King the voices of WISDOM and REASON now challenge the vast majority of the national and international finance industry to stand up and be counted by those who provide the means by which their casino gambling is funded.

"Whatever one's political persuasion I think we can all agree that taking something that belongs to someone else without their explicit consent is theft. A criminal act in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of God.

So, it is timely to ask the question: to whom does the sovereignty of our parliament belong?

Some would say it belongs to the monarchy. An absurd proposition for three reasons: such a claim is not written anywhere as we have no written consitution; the British monarchy lost supremacy when it was challenged and defeated in the Glorious Revolution and establishment of parliament, and thirdly, it is an untenable position to hold as one person, such as Hitler, may hold power in a fascist state but not in a democracy.

The Queen may have the power to order a military coup and dissolve parliament but, frankly, I cannot see the people of this country, who stood firm against the Nazis, stand by and allow a German and her Greek husband to carry out a fascist coup of British democracy without resistance.

I would also argue that sovereignty does not abide in the House of Lords as its members are appointed and not elected.

Nor does sovereigny lie in the commons as members of parliament are mere tenants, allowed to temporarily occupy the commons with the permission of the voters of this country. MPs are leaseholders, not freeholders and therefore do not possess the sovereignty of parliament.

Having dismissed the above charlatans, it follows that the sovereignty of parliament belongs to those who have the power to send and remove MPs from parliament and is irrevocably attached to the voting franchise and therefore belongs to every single voter in the country.

And so it follows that if any politician wishes to give away the sovereignty that belongs to us, the voters, then they will have to seek our implicit permission to do so.

They have failed to seek that permission.

The implications of this theft are far ranging. It means that Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Gordon Brown had no right or authority to enter into treaties and constitutions with third parties to give away the sovereignty which belongs to the voters of Great Britain.

It means that they fraudulently entered into those contracts and so, in turn, means that those treaties and constitutions are null and void and will remain illegal under British law until the permission of the owners of the sovereignty of our parliament, the voters, is sought and given.

The consequence of that theft is that not only is a referndum on the EU a mandatory requirement but also that in the meantime any politician or civil servant who enforces EU regulations and fines is committing a criminal act as the imposition of such fines and regulations has no legal basis in British law.

Okay, maybe not everything. But what if some of our core beliefs about how the world works turn out to be myths? This documentary flips our world upside down to see what makes it tick, as it explores the most critical question of our time:

How do we become a sustainable civilization?

Water shortages, hunger, peak oil, species extinction, and even increasing depression are all symptoms of a deeper problem – addiction to unending growth in a world that has limits. GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth goes way beyond prescribing Band-Aids to slow the bleeding. This film examines the cultural barriers that prevent us from reacting rationally to the evidence current levels of population and consumption are unsustainable.

It asks why the population conversations are so difficult to have. Why it’s more important to our society to have economic growth than clean air. Why communities seek and subsidize growth even when it destroys quality of life and increases taxes.

Our growth-centric system is broken. It’s not providing the happiness or the prosperity we seek. But that’s good news; it means a shift to a sustainable model will be good for us. We’ll be happier and more prosperous!

Individual and public policy decisions today are informed by a powerful, pro-growth cultural bias. We worship at the Church of Growth Everlasting. Undeterred by the facts, we’re on a collision course powered by denial and the myth that growth brings prosperity. Before we can shift our civilization meaningfully, effectively, and substantially toward true sustainability, the world must be “prepped.” We must become self-aware and recognize the programming that keeps us hooked. GrowthBusters will do just that. We’ll hear from leading thinkers of our time – scientists, sociologists, economists – to help us separate fact from superstition.

We’re approaching the end of growth. Will we embrace it? Or go down fighting?

From Las Vegas to Atlanta, Mexico City to Mumbai, the White House to the Vatican, GrowthBusters takes us on a whirlwind tour of growth mania. It’s Wild Kingdom with a twist: the cameras are turned on humanity as our own survival skills are examined. GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth looks into the psychology of denial and crowd behavior. It explores our obsession with urban and economic growth, and our reluctance to address overpopulation issues head-on. This documentary holds up a mirror, encouraging us to examine the beliefs and behaviors we must leave behind – and the values we need to embrace – so our children can survive and thrive.

GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth will be completed and released in 2011. This film is a non-profit project possible only with the help of enlightened supporters like you. Please join the movement, and please make a tax-deductible contribution to help finish and distribute the film.

Product Description

They were a band of outsiders unable to get jobs with New York's gilded financial establishment. They would go on to corner the world's multitrillion-dollar oil market, reaping unimaginable riches while bringing the economy to its knees. Meet the self-anointed kings of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In some ways, they are everything you would expect them to be: a secretive, members-only club of men and women who live lavish lifestyles; cavort with politicians, strippers, and celebrities; and blissfully jacked up oil prices to nearly $150 a barrel while profiting off the misery of the working class. In other ways, they are nothing you can imagine: many come from working-class families themselves. The progeny of Jewish, Irish, and Italian immigrants who escaped war-torn Europe, they take pride in flagrantly spurning Wall Street. Under the thumb of an all-powerful international oil cartel, the energy market had long eluded the grasp of America's hungry capitalists. Neither the oil royalty of Houston nor the titans of Wall Street had ever succeeded in fully wresting away control. But facing extinction, the rough-and-tumble traders of Nymex led by the reluctant son of a produce merchant went after this Goliath and won, creating the world's first free oil market and minting billions in the process. Their stunning journey from poverty to prosperity belies the brutal and violent history that is their legacy. For the first time, The Asylum unmasks the oil market's self-described "inmates" in all their unscripted and dysfunctional glory: the happily married father from Long Island whose lust for money and power was exceeded only by his taste for cruel pranks; the Italian kung fu fighting gasoline trader whose ferocity in the trading pits earned him countless millions; the cheerful Nazi hunter who traded quietly by day and ambushed Nazi sympathizers by night; and the Irish-born femme fatale who outsmarted all but one of the exchange's chairmen the Hungarian emigre who, try as he might, could do nothing to rein in the oil market's unruly inhabitants. From the treacherous boardroom schemes to the hookers and blow of the trading pits; from the repeat terrorist attacks and FBI stings to the grand alliances and outrageous fortunes that brought the global economy to the brink, The Asylum ventures deep into the belly of the beast, revealing how raw ambition and the endless quest for wealth can change the very nature of both man and market. Showcasing seven years of research and hundreds of hours of interviews, Leah McGrath Goodman reveals what really happened behind the scenes as oil prices topped out and what choice the traders ultimately made when forced to choose between their longtime brotherhood and their precious oil monopoly.

Reviews of The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market

'Finance journalist Goodman traces Nymex's transformation into a colossus with a stranglehold on the sale of the world's energy. Goodman explores the lurid culture of Nymex traders, scruffy hustlers who shriek, swear and bring guns, drugs, and hookers right into the trading pit. One of the year's most colorful business histories.' --Publishers Weekly

'Goodman wrote about Nymex for the Wall Street Journal before expanding her knowledge into a book...The inside look at a mostly closed institution is enlightening...Goodman's details about the infighting within Nymex membership are astounding, mainly because the members don t seem to realize they are destroying their path to wealth.' --Kirkus

'Goodman reveals a rough-and-tumble group with little formal education, who dress down, answer to no one, and are tougher than marines. Activities at the exchange are rife with cheating and overindulgence in drugs, prostitutes, and illegal gambling. Biting and infuriating, with even a 'Deep Throat' in the scoop.' --Booklist

'In the complex world of the energy markets where pit trading is a blue-collar profession, Goodman captures the grit and spirit of the floor and the personalities in the board room...her depiction of the players and the place to ring true.' --Reuters

'The Asylum is an inside look at how an underdog crew of uneducated, street-smart New York traders brawled and yelled, drank and drugged their way to control of the world s oil markets. With eye opening and entertaining first-hand accounts of life on the floor of the Nymex, Goodman explains why global catastrophes are nothing more than money-making opportunities for a small handful of traders. Newspapers report that the latest global catastrophe is pushing oil prices into the stratosphere, but Goodman and the residents of the Asylum know better...' --Fortune

'In the complex world of the energy markets where pit trading is a blue-collar profession, Goodman captures the grit and spirit of the floor and the personalities in the board room...her depiction of the players and the place to ring true.' --Reuters

'The Asylum is an inside look at how an underdog crew of uneducated, street-smart New York traders brawled and yelled, drank and drugged their way to control of the world s oil markets. With eye opening and entertaining first-hand accounts of life on the floor of the Nymex, Goodman explains why global catastrophes are nothing more than money-making opportunities for a small handful of traders. Newspapers report that the latest global catastrophe is pushing oil prices into the stratosphere, but Goodman and the residents of the Asylum know better...' --Fortune

Gordon Brown - the man who claimed "to have ended the cycle of boom and bust for the UK" - Didn't he also save the world as well from ALL of its financial woes? - is here again at the penultimate moment of the Euro Crisis expounding the fact that IF the G20 doesn't get its act together to help keep the Euro alive we shall all be faced with potential bailouts for France and Italy as well.

Surely its the founding members of the Euro project - Germany, France and Italy - who should now be realising that the wheels are falling off the charabanc because they chose not to fit tyres to the wheels in the first place.

As the second day of the 19th EU/Euro summit in 24 months, dawns - Philip Aldrick writes in todays Telegraph about the revelations and consequences of the UK banking industry being at the heart of Libor manipulation -

“Quite clearly, there was a culture here that tolerated – if it didn’t encourage – this sort of behaviour,” Mr Alistair Darling said “The FSA needs to carry out a further investigation to find out who was responsible for this, who knew what was going on, as well as to track those people who manipulated or attempted to manipulate the figures."

Tobacco companies have had new behaviour forced upon them – a ban on advertising and smoking in public places for instance. Banks risk this in the form of yet more red tape, which would be counterproductive to the economy as a whole.

But they are now isolated and have few if any advocates – beyond this newspaper.

The reason this column still defends banks, yes even now, is because banking, unlike smoking, fulfils a social use and is central to wider wealth creation. But banks have forgotten their very real responsibilities to society (customers) in favour of owing responsibilities first to themselves and second to shareholders.

Banks' response to this latest scandal should be to find a clear and lasting solution to how they inculcate their organisations with the right priorities. That would be of more use than swapping one banker for another in the boardroom – and certainly of greater urgency for the good of banking and the wider economy.